We celebrated Erin turning 29 and opened our new home bar! What a fun evening. There was a Bison Chili station, with shredded cheese, fried onion bits, and Flaming Dix Pineapple salsa. For the grazers out there, appetizers such as; deviled eggs, veggie tray, cheese and crackers, cookies, and cream puffs graced our kitchen island.

To top it off, three flavors of home brewed beer, courtesy of the birthday girl, was provided! My favorite was the French roast stout, followed by the red headed (called so because of the ginger!) pumpkin ale, followed by the standard stout.

Rather than having a Dining room, we decided we’d rather have a Home Bar. We went to several box stores around Denver and nobody had a bar which suited our needs, so we decided to have one built. We ended up going with MJB Woodworking. We are very happy with our decision, as we love our new bar!

First, an interior design consultant comes to the house and measures the space. They talk about preferences in type of wood, surface for the top, colors, style, and take measurements of the space. Then, the designer draws up some specs and they send you a few options. You pick what you like in a price point which will work, and then Mike and his brother at MJB actually build you the bar. It’s a very simple process and they consider every detail. Finally, they come to your house and put it together on site.

I’ve been working from home now for about half a year and I just love it! In addition to being twice as productive, setting my own pace, conducting research in an environment I can control, and being able to workout when I need to, I get to see what the cats do all day.

It’s actually not all that exciting; it’s mostly sleeping in sunny spots. It is nice to have their company though. There’s nothing like a little lap warming cat purring while you are programming at the computer, on a chilly winter day!

The new year came and with it, the desire to live a different lifestyle.

We decided we had enough of suburbia. Time to shift into a more “walkable” existence. We really love our house, but we needed more things to do at night and easier opportunities for meeting up with friends (who are scattered all about Denver/Boulder!).

So, we started looking for condos or townhomes downtown. We finally found the perfect townhouse. It’s near the Rockies Ballpark, satisfying all our requirements for central location, easy commuting, active nightlife, etc.

All set to close mid-February, so we just had to wait for everything to run it’s course. Downtown Denver, here we come!

Dennis had ACL Surgery on July 14. He hurt it 2 days after we got back from Scotland. After a barrage of tests, it was determined surgery was his best bet.

He has since had the surgery and is making a strong recovery! Our friend, Jen, loaned us a Cryo Cuff, which is God’s Greatest Gift to those with knee injuries! We are super thankful to have this device as it has really helped. THANKS, JEN!